BART cops lose TASER privileges

Annoucement comes after officer shocked 13-year-old

By Demian BulwaThe San Francisco Chronicle

SAN FRANCISCO — The BART Police Department stripped its officers of TASERs on Thursday, days after a sergeant fired the electric darts of his stun gun at a 13-year-old boy fleeing from police in Richmond on his bicycle, sources told The Chronicle.

BART officials, who said officers would be retrained to use the devices, attributed the decision to the Richmond incident as well as a recent federal court ruling that narrowed the circumstances under which police can use TASERs.